Path: jabba.kesmai.com!usenet
From: Greg Smith
Newsgroups: bigweek.general
Subject: AW Plane Testing
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 11:27:23 -0600
Organization: Kesmai Corporation
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I realized I haven't released any of this to the "general public" and it
might prove interesting or useful to many of you. All of this testing
was done for various scenario purposes so it can be a bit matchup
specific. Those of you that have been in my groups have of course seen
this before =)
Vampire
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I did a little offline testing. All numbers may not be entirely accurate, but they're pretty damn close. I hope this helps us form a more effective battle plan. If you're not a stats person, I've added some comments at the bottom.
Max Level Speed at alt*:
5000 10000 15000 20000 22000 25000 27000
P40 228 221 213 186 176(184) 161 145
F4F 215 207 199 182 172(178) 162 151
Ki-43 228 221 207 194 186(195) 174 162
A6M2 205 197 188 178 168(174) 159 151
Hmm.. I thought the A6M2 was supposed to be faster than the F4F (I don't know at what alt), was it only later model Zero's that were faster?
(*parenthesis = with WEP. All numbers are in knots indicated airspeed using F6 view, the F5 view airspeed guage shows about 10 knots slower than the F6 view guage)
Time to alt*:
5000 10000 15000 20000 22000 25000 27000
P40 3:20 6:00 9:05 12:50 15:00 19:15 23:25
F4F 2:50 4:55 7:15 10:15 11:35 14:30 17:30
Oscar 2:00 3:45 5:50 8:10 9:26 11:20 13:10
A6M2 2:00 4:00 6:15 9:00 10:00 12:25 14:40
(*minutes:seconds, maintaining 125 kts in F5 view at 100 throttle. Remember, this is without any heading changes or allowances for formation integrity.)
Ceiling*:
P40 31,300 feet
F4F 32,400 feet
Ki-43 42,200 feet
A6M2 43,300 feet
To put this in perspective both the Oscar and A6M2 will fly HIGHER than the P51 can reach in AW (pork?). Of course they are both limited to 22k until they engage.
(* This is by no means a "service" ceiling, the is the alt at which the plane refuses to climb any higher. The stall light is flashing and buffeting is severe)
Fuel Endurance*:
P40 3 hours
F4F 2.2 hours
Ki-43 3 hours
A6M2 2.5 hours
(*100% fuel at 100 throttle, no WEP usage)
Compression characteristics:
P40
In a steep dive (around 45-90 degrees) the P40 will begin to feel the effects of compression at around 300-350 kts. However, these effects are very slight. I was never able to reach a speed at any dive angle where I wasn't able to pull at least 4-5 g's (this was up to 475 kts). In a shallow dive the P40 did not compress... at all (this was mostly below 20k). I had it near 500 kts and was still able to pull 9g.
F4F
In a steep dive the F4F compressed at around 375 kts (approx 90-60 degrees). In a slightly more shallow dive (approx 60-45? degrees) that speed went up to closer to 400 kts. When the F4F compressed it compressed badly, only able to pull 2-3g's. In a shallow dive the F4F will not compress, I was only able to get it up to around 425 kts though.
Ki-43
In a 90 degree dive the Oscar will compress severely around 275-300 kts. When compression sets in the Oscar can only manage 2-3g's. In a shallow dive results were similar, with compression hitting at about 300 kts. In one of my tests the Oscar compressed at 250 in a very shallow dive at 20k, but I would use 300 kts+ as a rule for Oscar compression if I were trying to evade one. I was unable to rip the wings off the Oscar, either with attaining maximum speed in a dive from 30k, or with "spiking" the G me
ter coming out of compression. I also was unable to get the Oscar much above 325 kts in a dive, both American fighters reached much higher speeds.
A6M2
A 90 degree dive led to severe compression at 300-315 kts. I was only able to pull 2g's at this speed and angle. Moderately angled dives should net similar results. In a very shallow dive the Zeke reached nearly 375 kts before compressing (at very low alt). I don't thing the Zeke will get much faster than 400 kts in any type of dive. Strangely, I was also unable to rip the wings off of this plane, despite trying very hard to do it.
I do not think being unable to rip wings is a result of flying offline. I took up an A26 and the wings ripped nicely. I've tried many times to rip the wings off the KI-84 online in Big Pac but I haven't been able to do it. Manuevers that would have left my plane in pieces and plummeting in AWFW do not seem to affect the same fragile plane in AW3. Has this feature been removed or is it a bug?
Comments:
The P40 and Oscar are comparable in speed until about 20k where the Oscar takes a commanding lead in that category. The F4F is slightly faster than the Zeke until about 20k where the Zeke closes the gap. Above 20k the two are nearly identical in speed.
The Oscar and Zeke both outperform the American fighter by a great deal in the climb category, though the F4F is not terrible in climb. The P40 however... is. It will be difficult to scramble and reach an effective combat altitude in the P40 before being attacked.
66% fuel will last the P40's the entire two hour frame with an allowance for WEP and extended low alt flight considering they will not take off immediately. The F4F will probably need to load around 90% fuel if they expect to stay aloft for nearly two hours.
Both American fighters have the advantage in dive performance, reaching higher top speeds and compressing less severely and at higher speeds.
Vampire
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Bf-109E
The Bf-109E compares favorably in almost every category with the P-40 and the Hurricane, while the SpitV is basically an even match for it overall.
It's faster than the P40 and Hurricane at all alts, but especially over 20k. The Spit is a tad faster down low, but the 109 evens the gap over 20k where they are nearly identical in speed.
The 109 posesses a huge climb advantage over the P40, a decent one over the Hurricane and a very slight advantage over the Spit, though this slight advantage increases a bit at alts over 20k.
One area where the Spit and P40 clearly outshine the 109 is in high speed characteristics. The P40 will basically not compress (ever) while the Spit can reach extremely high speeds in a medium to shallow dive (45 degrees or less) without compressing, though the SpitV will rip it's wings off at around 500 kts. The Hurricane however, will compress much earlier than the 109.
Another area where the 109 suffers in comparison to its opponents is in durability. It's the least durable fighter in Afrika '42.
At 100% ammo the 109's guns should be more lethal than the P40's and the Hurricane's, while less lethal than the Spit's. On a rather disheartening note, the 109 runs out of cannon at 92% ammo (16 seconds or 10 "bursts" into the clip) and thereafter is armed only with two 7.9mm maching guns. It has an almost unending supply of 7.9mm MG rounds, but lethality with only the machine guns is extremely poor.
Low speed roll is very good, slightly lower than the Spit. At high speeds roll rate is still slightly lower than the Spit, but much lower than the P40 and surprisingly, the Hurricane as well.
In a "turn fight" the 109 again is about an even match for the Spit, the corner velocity being nearly identical, though the Spit probably has the advantage in E retention. The Hurricane is superior to the 109 in this type of fight. "Turn Fights" will definately be avoided however, in favor of "boom and zoom" and, if necissary, E fighting tactics. A strong emphasis also needs to be placed on teamwork for success.
Fuel Endurance(100% fuel at 100% throttle, 20k. hours:minutes): 2:15
ME-110
The Me-110 is slower than all allied fighters except above 20k where it is slightly faster than the Hurricane.
It climbs like a homesick earthworm, though it does climb better than the P40. It compresses earlier than any allied fighter but the Hurricane. Pilots must be extremely careful when using B&Z attacks to avoid compression, though the 110 can be very effective in these types of attacks as it's guns are extremely lethal at 100% ammo, probably ranking behind only the Fw-190-A3 in this category. Cannon runs out at 75% ammo (49 seconds) but overall ammo load is huge. Lethality without cannon is again very poor